Brew Review – Man(go) Eater by J. Wakefield Brewing

There are notable exceptions, I understand, but it seems that a lot of brewers are children of the 80’s. And being part of that most Reaganiriffic decade will understandably leave a cultural mark or two.

Or twenty.

Anyway, it happens a lot. J. Wakefield does it a lot as well. They did it this summer with their bike riding buddies from New Belgium, a sour little summer beer that goes by the blue eyed soul sorta name of Man(go) Eater (Witbier, 5.5% ABV, 27 IBU).

Yes, you just started singing Hall and Oates in your head, didn’t you?

So, what we have here is a slightly sour, mango-laden witbier. First, as a witbier, it’s quite bubbly and refreshing. There’s a lot of bright flavors to the beer, and those are slightly accentuated with a sourness that isn’t horribly facepuckering. It’s maybe like turning the lights on just a bit too brightly.

Mango to the rescue. I have always liked the meaty, dark sweetness of mango, and it works surprising well with the slight sourness of the beer and the bright bubbliness of the wit qualities.

Sorry it took me so long to write this. Hopefully JWB will brew this again next summer. In the meantime, you can sing about it.